We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough

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🏚️ WE LIVE HERE NOW — A Marriage, A Murder House, and a LOT of Bad Decisions ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ (4.5 Stars)

Author: Sarah Pinborough
Genre: Modern Gothic • Psychological Horror • Domestic Thriller

🚨 SPOILER WARNING 🚨
I am sharing a FULL, DETAILED SUMMARY WITH THE ENDING. If you don’t want to know everything, stop here and go read the book first. You have been warned. 👀

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⚠️ TRIGGER WARNINGS (Read First)

• Death & murder

• Suicide & suicidal ideation

• Animal death

• Pregnancy loss

• Addiction (gambling, substance use)

• Emotional & physical abuse

• Infidelity

• Mental illness

• Graphic violence

• Sexual content

• Manipulation & coercion

This book does not tiptoe around darkness. 🖤

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🏠 OVERVIEW: WHAT IS WE LIVE HERE NOW ABOUT?

We Live Here Now (2025) is a modern Gothic novel by Sarah Pinborough, queen of the “domestic thriller but make it supernatural” vibe.

After nearly dying in a horrific accident, Emily Bennett relocates with her husband Freddie from London to a remote, isolated mansion called Larkin Lodge, deep in Dartmoor, England. The idea? A fresh start.
The reality? A cursed house, a collapsing marriage, and a body count that escalates fast.

If Pet Sematary and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? had a baby and locked it in a haunted house — this would be that book. And no, it doesn’t feel derivative. It feels deliciously cruel.

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🧠 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This book is IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN. Do not start it unless:
✔️ Your calendar is clear
✔️ You’re okay losing sleep
✔️ You enjoy watching marriages combust in real time

The atmosphere is creepy, oppressive, and dripping with dread. My heart was pounding, my trust issues were activated, and I loved every second. 🖤

Also? This book has a very strong message:

Marriage is teamwork.
And yet… almost everyone here chooses murder instead of therapy. 😬

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🔍 FULL PLOT SUMMARY (ALL THE SPOILERS)

🩸 THE MOVE & THE HOUSE

Emily and Freddie move into Larkin Lodge after Emily survives a near-fatal fall from a cliff that leaves her hospitalized, septic, and briefly in a coma. She loses her job and is still recovering both physically and mentally.

From the moment they arrive, something is wrong.

When Emily is alone, she experiences:

• Scratching sounds and footsteps upstairs

• A constant smell of rot

• Books falling from shelves spelling “YOU WILL DIE HERE”

• Windows opening by themselves

• A nail reappearing after being removed

Freddie dismisses everything as post-sepsis hallucinations, encouraged by Emily’s doctor. Gaslighting: unlocked. 🔓

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🧨 SECRETS, LIES & A VERY BAD MARRIAGE

Both spouses are hiding massive secrets:

• Emily slept with her boss for a promotion and isn’t sure her lost pregnancy was Freddie’s

• Freddie has a severe gambling addiction and owes thousands to a violent loan shark

They don’t communicate. They resent each other. And the house? It feeds on that tension.

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🐦 THE RAVEN (YES, REALLY)

Interspersed chapters follow a male raven who has watched the house for decades. His mate, Broken Wing, died inside Larkin Lodge after flying down the chimney.

Emily eventually frees the raven, finds Broken Wing’s corpse, and later — shockingly — finds her alive again. This is your first huge clue that the house does something… unnatural.

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🔮 THE HOUSE’S DARK HISTORY

Through locals, guests, and old records, Emily learns:

• Larkin Lodge was built on a crossroads burial site for people who died by suicide

• Former residents behaved… differently after tragedy

• The house has a long history of death followed by improvement

Yes. Improvement. 🚩

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📓 THE DIARY THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

Emily finds the hidden journal of Christopher Hopper, a 19th-century surgeon who discovered the house’s secret:

If you kill someone you love and place their body in the upper bedroom, they come back to life —
✨ as the best version of themselves ✨

Their worst traits remain trapped in the room.

Burning personal items reunites the two halves.

Oh.
Okay then. 😳

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🧠 SALLY CARTER & THE TRUTH

Emily realizes this happened before.

Former resident Sally Carter was once obsessively jealous — until one night, she changed completely. Emily uncovers the truth:

• Sally’s husband Joe accidentally killed her during a fight

• He suffocated her and placed her body in the bedroom

• Sally returned… calm, loving, perfect

• Her dark half remained trapped

Emily burns Sally’s items, freeing her — and Sally promises Joe will pay.

(Spoiler: Joe later dies in an “accident.” Karma clocked in.)

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🔪 FREDDIE GOES FULL VILLAIN

Freddie, drowning in debt, decides to kill Emily and stage it as suicide to collect insurance. He convinces others she’s unstable.

When he discovers Emily’s secret bank account and infidelity, he snaps —
stabs her, and hides her body upstairs.

She comes back.
She remembers nothing.
He thinks he’s won.

He has not. 😌

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🧠 THE ENDING (ICONIC, HORRIFYING, PERFECT)

Emily learns the truth.
She drugs Freddie.
She tells him she’s pregnant.

Then she kills him.

Because if they’re going to be parents, shouldn’t they both be free of their worst traits? 💅

The novel ends with:

• The dark halves of Emily, Freddie, and Broken Wing trapped in the house

• The “good” versions leaving to start a new life in France

• Emily quietly vowing she will never free Freddie

Cold.
Brilliant.
Unsettling as hell. 🖤

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🖤 FINAL THOUGHTS

This book is eerie, chilling, twisted, and wildly addictive. The house feels alive. The marriage feels real. The moral questions linger long after the last page.

⭐ 4.5 stars out of 5
I docked half a star only because this book is emotionally brutal — but honestly? That might be a compliment.

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📚 IF YOU LIKED THIS, READ THESE NEXT:

• Pet Sematary — Stephen King

• The Silent Patient — Alex Michaelides

• Behind Her Eyes — Sarah Pinborough

• The Grip of It — Jac Jemc

• The Haunting of Hill House — Shirley Jackson